LTCI carrier may have pulled back from some states

By National Underwriter

National Underwriter

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) recently reported that it has heard that the policyholder-owned mutual insurers has stopped selling LTCI coverage in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Nevada and New York.

States have not posted filings about withdrawals from markets online, and the company did not respond to a request for it to comment on the AALTCI report.

The "get a quote" tool on the company's website says, "We are not currently offering long-term care insurance in your state or province," in response to queries about the companies on the AALTCI list.

In response to queries for some other states, such as Iowa, State Farm still offers consumers a chance to fill out a quote request form.

Other carriers also have cut back on LTCI sales in recent years, citing problems with unexpectedly light policy persistency rates and the difficulty of earning acceptable investment returns during a period of low interest rates on high-rated bonds.

Jesse Slome, the executive director of AALTCI, noted that the carriers that are still in the LTCI market have reported strong application volume this year, with some seeing volume gains of 30 percent to 55 percent.